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A painful bladder condition known as interstitial cystitis is not at all what it seemed, scientists have discovered.
The pain seems to originate not in the bladder but in the colon, and the body miscommunicates the source of the pain to the brain. The finding could open up new treatments to the roughly 1.3 million U.S. residents, mostly women, who suffer from the condition.
Among other causes, spicy food, citrus and caffeine are causes of interstitial cystitis. The pain can be debilitating. Patients typically also feel an urgent need to urinate up to 50 times a day.
"This disease has a devastating effect on people's lives," said David Klumpp, principal investigator and assistant professor of urology at the Feinberg School at Northwestern University. "It affects people's relationships with family and friends." Klumpp said some women who suffer from this become so depressed, they attempt suicide.
Researchers had long believed the spike in the patients' symptoms was triggered when foods they had digested produced chemicals in the urine that irritated the bladder.
But the body can be strange, the new study shows.
Here's what Klumpp and his colleagues found:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience...d&printer=1;_ylt=Ap2lyeAjCAMJzPlT1rUaZnmzvtEF
The pain seems to originate not in the bladder but in the colon, and the body miscommunicates the source of the pain to the brain. The finding could open up new treatments to the roughly 1.3 million U.S. residents, mostly women, who suffer from the condition.
Among other causes, spicy food, citrus and caffeine are causes of interstitial cystitis. The pain can be debilitating. Patients typically also feel an urgent need to urinate up to 50 times a day.
"This disease has a devastating effect on people's lives," said David Klumpp, principal investigator and assistant professor of urology at the Feinberg School at Northwestern University. "It affects people's relationships with family and friends." Klumpp said some women who suffer from this become so depressed, they attempt suicide.
Researchers had long believed the spike in the patients' symptoms was triggered when foods they had digested produced chemicals in the urine that irritated the bladder.
But the body can be strange, the new study shows.
Here's what Klumpp and his colleagues found:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience...d&printer=1;_ylt=Ap2lyeAjCAMJzPlT1rUaZnmzvtEF